Uncle Theodore
Uncle Theodore is a character appearing in every version of the Haunted Mansion attraction except for Mystic Manor. His voice and face are provided by Thurl Ravenscroft. Appearances The Haunted Mansion Uncle Theodore appears in the graveyard in the form of an animated yet damaged marble bust and the lead singer of the Mellomen Group, together the spirits sing Grim Grinning Ghosts. Theodore's bust is the only one of the five to be broken, this is because of a video error which was prevalent in the footage of Thurl Ravenscroft which caused the footage to be on a slant. Imagineers fixed this by putting the character's bust on a slant. Phantom Manor In Phantom Manor he appears in the Underworld portion of the attraction before Phantom Canyon where he still sings Grim Grinning Ghosts only now with only three of his fellow busts as Cousin Algernon is not present. Along with this change, Theodore's bust is no longer broken. Instead, it's leaning to the right, slightly, partially mimicking the appearance of his broken head in the American and Japanese mansions. Other Appearances SLG Comics In the SLG Haunted Mansion comic-book series, Theodore is a recurring character who often serves as a narrator. The Haunted Mansion (2003 Movie) In the critically and commercially panned 2003 film adaption of the Haunted Mansion movie, the Singing Busts appear (as a quartet) for one scene where they annoy Eddie Murphy's character Jim Evers by singing old songs while he tries to obtain information from them. One of these busts is made to resemble Thurl Ravenscroft. Video Game The busts appear in the 2003 game as a quartet again. The leader Uncle Theodore asks Zeke, the assistant caretaker of the mansion, to find the other members of his quartet and wake them. After they are awakened, they sing the song dedicated to their "Brother Zeke", which causes a mausoleum to rise from the ground and the Graveyard to light up. The Dapper Dans provide their voices in this adaption once again. There are also several wanna-be busts that Zeke must avoid waking while searching for the other three singing ones, as they'll prompt him to start over. However, if Zeke interacts with them after finding the Singing Busts, the wannabes will sing their own song, causing an empty crypt to rise out of the ground. Epic Mickey All the singing busts make a cameo in the video-game Epic Mickey which features an alternate version of the Haunted Mansion called Lonesome Manor. In Lonesome Manor's Stretching Room, Constance's portrait features her sitting atop the tombstone of the Mellomen with their animated busts at the bottom, in the place traditionally occupied by George Hightower's bust. This could be implying that the busts are this Mansion's equivalents of Constance's Husbands. Trivia * Theodore is often misidentified of being portrayed by Walt Disney due to the passing resemblance which Thurl Ravenscroft and Walt Disney share. * Despite being the lead singer of the busts, he is the only one of the five to have never received a tombstone. * Theodore's actor Thurl Ravenscroft was the real life lead singer of the Mellomen whom the Singing Busts are semi-officially named after. * In the unofficial Ghost Gallery storyline, Theodore was given the name of Sherman Thurl and was a friend of the Ghost Host/Master Gracey's from Yale's glee club where he was in a group called "The Mallow Men" (because their voices were soft like marshmallows). After school he became a radio-announcer but joined his friends for a Mallow Men reunion at Gracey Manor but they died when a lightning-bolt electrocuted the microphones they were using. Gracey had them buried in the Mansion with their busts positioned to look like they were performing. * The busts are referenced in the 1997 animated Disney film Hercules where a group of Greek Muses animate marble-busts while singing and the bust animated by the muse Thalia has her head slanted to mirror Uncle Theodore. Category:Males Category:Ghosts Category:Deceased Characters Category:Undead Category:Ghost Gallery Category:Characters Category:Comic Characters